


Your Hand In Mine

by Myrime



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Don't copy to another site, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oblivious Tony Stark, Tony Thinks He Knows Better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 07:05:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19224118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrime/pseuds/Myrime
Summary: Tony needs a date for his parents' summer ball. Too bad Steve would never say yes. But surely, Bucky will be up for eating expensive food and pretending he likes Tony for one afternoon. Whatever could go wrong?





	Your Hand In Mine

**Author's Note:**

> For the [stevetony week](https://stony-week.tumblr.com/) day 7: fake dating  
> Enjoy!

It is a matter of life and death. That is the only reason Tony stands in front of Steve and Bucky’s apartment on a bright morning with still warm muffins to bribe its inhabitants not to throw him out again immediately. He has a key but feels unable to actually take that last step.

When the door is ripped open suddenly, Tony takes a startled step back, staring wide-eyed at Bucky Barnes, who is looking more gruff than usual. He probably had a night shift last night, which has Tony considering to just turn around and flee. Barnes does not like him very much on his good days. There is no need to provoke him when he looks like death warmed over. 

“Steve’s not here,” Bucky growls and starts to close the door again, right in Tony’s face. That would still be one of the nicer encounters they had.

“I know,” Tony blurts, “I’m here for you.” He then raises the bag with the muffins as a peace offering. “I brought breakfast.”

For a long moment, it looks like Barnes is going to throw him out anyway. Then he sighs, a long-suffering tone that shows he is fully aware that Tony’s presence usually ends in disaster for all of them. Without another word, he walks back into the apartment, leaving the door open.

Tony stumbles after him into the kitchen, where Barnes is already sitting back at the table, hands curling around a cup. He is smart enough to not reach for the coffee pot standing on the table. In a mood like this, Barnes is even more protective of his coffee than Tony usually is. To gather his courage he would need something stronger anyway.

“How did you know I was at the door?” Tony asks as he gets a plate for the muffins. He knows this kitchen better than his own, mostly because Steve insists that people need more than takeout to survive, while Tony’s fridge has likely never seen anything green in its life.

“Heard your steps,” Barnes answers, looking like he wants to crawl into his cup. “You’ve been fumbling with the keys for minutes, right outside.”

Tony decides not to comment on how creepy it is that Barnes _heard_ him. Especially in this state of mind where he looks like he is going to keel over any moment. It is not like Tony is used to being quiet, but he is reasonably sure that his steps outside were not loud enough to be heard by a normal human being in here. Instead of arguing the fact, though, he simply puts the muffins on the table and watches, half-amused, how Barnes tears into the first one, never looking up.

Right then, when Barnes has his mouth and hands full, Tony decides is his opportunity to talk about his request. There will never be a _good_ time, but he figures that Barnes will not murder him immediately if he is still busy eating. Wasting the muffins by getting blood all over them would be a shame.

“I need you to be my date for my parents’ summer ball.” Even knowing what he was going to say, Tony shudders. He remains standing in case he needs to flee suddenly.

It is a preposterous notion, the two of them going anywhere together. Tony and Barnes are both Steve’s friends, they are simply not friends with each other. It is more of a healthy rivalry. It is likely a sign that they are on a good way that Tony has not vanished without a trace yet. Barnes and his girlfriend Natasha give off the vibes that they could easily do that if they committed to it. 

Barnes looks up from his muffin, his face is completely blank. He chews, slowly, stares at Tony with the acceptance of someone who always knew Tony would inevitably lose his mind someday.

“Why don’t you ask Steve?” he finally says, still not allowing even a glimpse at what he is thinking.

Tony is not sure whether it is a good or bad sign that Barnes does not question _why_ Tony needs a date all of a sudden – and why he does not ask one of the dozen people always running after him on campus.

“Are you out of your mind?” Tony asks, incredulous. “I _like_ Steve. And he’d hate it there.”

_Like_ might not be the exact term for how Tony feels, but they are friends and that is more important than his illusionary hope for more.

“So you’re asking me? I’m flattered.” The slight mocking in Barnes’ tone is actually more promising than what Tony expected when he was loitering outside.

There is a simple explanation, of course, why it has to be Barnes. With him, there is no danger that Barnes will want something more from Tony than Tony is ready to give. Their animosity for each other is well known, but they can play nice, especially when Steve bullies them into it with his puppy dog eyes. They know each other well enough to pull this off too. It is ideal – a no strings attached night out with good food and plenty opportunity for Barnes to drown annoying people in his suffocating charm.

Instead of saying any of that, Tony simply shrugs. “Well, you’re much less sensitive.”

“Out of your mouth that sounds like an insult.”

As far as Tony is concerned, it is actually a compliment. He would much rather take Steve – even if the chances of Steve agreeing are virtually non-existent – but Barnes has more chances of not being eaten alive amongst Tony’s parents’ peers. Sometimes that permanent death glare and mechanical arm are good for something else than ending bar fights very quickly.

Instead of saying that – Barnes and he are not exactly in the habit of being kind to each other – Tony shrugs. “I’m not going to answer that.”

Barnes reaches for another muffin, tearing it apart as much as he is eating it. “Why don’t you go with Sharon?”

Appalled, Tony stares. “My _cousin_ Sharon?”

His plan for this ball is to raid the bar, hide behind his date’s broad shoulders, and either excuse himself as quickly as possible or behave horribly enough that his parents throw him out to avoid him making a scene. Sharon gets along quite well with his mother, though, and even manages to make Howard keep his temper in check sometimes. If he were to go with her, he would have to actually socialise.

“She’s not your cousin,” Barnes argues.

They have had this argument before, only Barnes insisted the opposite then, bemoaning the fact that Sharon is the reason Tony even knows Steve, thanks to their brief relationship. While Sharon wandered quickly back out of Steve’s life, Tony stuck around.

“She’s my godmother’s niece,” Tony iterates, wondering why Barnes is so adamant on changing the topic. “So, yeah, she’s my cousin.”

Done with his second muffin, Barnes leans back in his chair and musters Tony intensely. “What do you think would happen if you took Steve?”

Tony snorts, unamused. That would be a catastrophe. If he ever managed to gather the courage to ask Steve out, and Steve actually agreed, they would stay as far away as possible from Tony’s parents. Howard has the habit of ruining everything he touches – and Tony does not exactly exclude himself from that – while his mother can be overbearing. The chances of Tony and Steve ever working out as a couple are slim enough without Tony dragging them into the life he fled from as soon as he legally could.

He shakes his head, trying to get rid of this eternal fantasy of him and Steve somehow fitting together. Being friends should be good enough. It is already more than Tony ever expected.

“He’d be miserable,” Tony explains honestly. “My mother would ask a lot of pointed questions, and my father would glare at him until he breaks. He’d hate me for putting him through that.”

What Tony does not say is that Howard would probably like Steve. More so, in any case, than he ever liked Tony. It is entirely possible that he would be charming and companionable, drawing Steve in with that façade he usually reserves for the press or potential investors. Tony does not think he could bear that. Especially since Steve is the kind of person who would try to repair the relationship between father and son, likely with a number of elaborate lectures about how Howard is not so bad and Tony should give him another chance. That would ruin everything.

“And I won’t?” Barnes asks but he sounds distracted, still looking at Tony with eyes that see far too much.

It is unfair, how someone so unsociable is so very good at reading people at the same time.

“You already hate me, Barnes,” Tony says dryly, swallowing the usual disappointment at that. Not because he actually wants to be friends with Barnes, but if Steve ever has to choose between them, it will be no surprise who will have to leave. “It’s no biggie.”

“Steve’s going to hate me too,” Barnes argues in a tone like this is a trap he is waiting for Tony to stumble into.

Frowning, Tony shakes his head. “He won’t.” He does not think there is anything Barnes could do that would make Steve turn away from him, including becoming an international serial killer. “He loves you.”

Barnes' lips tip downward as if his already low opinion of Tony has just plummeted even more. “For a genius, you’re really –”

Suddenly annoyed, Tony cuts him off. “Why do people keep telling me things like that?”

To his surprise, Barnes’ face brightens with amusement. “So I’m not the first you asked?”

As if Tony would be suicidal enough for that. The problem is, he has already exhausted all other possible dates. Pepper, being the obvious choice, is coming with Happy. Rhodey is out of the country, as usual. Clint is _not_ an option. And – well, the number of people Tony trusts enough to come with him and not drive him insane by seeing this as an opportunity to schmooze with rich people instead of the actual torture it is, is depressingly short.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Tony drawls, “you’ll still be the prettiest girl at the ball.”

Reaching for the coffee pot, Barnes refills his cup. “I didn’t say yes.”

“You will,” Tony answers. He is reasonably sure about that because Barnes would never miss the chance to gather new blackmail material against Tony. Where better to do that than at a public event with his parents running around?

“Not in a hundred years.”

Barnes sounds convinced. The words have not completely left his mouth, though, when he reaches for a third muffin. Just like that, Tony knows he has won.

 

* * *

 

His last class of the day got cancelled, so Steve enjoys the luxury of feeling the sun on his skin as he hurries home for a shower and something to eat before he has to leave for his evening shift at the diner two blocks away. He usually has to run after class to make it on time. So much freedom feels foreign.

He walks into Bucky and his apartment whistling, throws his keys with practised ease in the profoundly ugly bowl Clint got them when they first moved in, and goes to find Bucky.

As he passes the kitchen, he finds a plate with muffins on the table. Since lunch has been several hours ago, Steve’s stomach growls with suddenly awakened hunger. The moment he has one in hand, though, he frowns. From the texture and smell alone he knows this is better than the stuff they can normally afford. Feeling paranoid, he looks for the bag in the trash and sees the logo of an expensive bakery downtown. The muffins were definitely not purchased by Bucky then.

In fact, Tony is the only viable explanation, and while he shows up randomly all the time, he knows Steve has to work today. Well, Tony’s forgetfulness at least got them free baked goods.

Steve walks on and knocks on Bucky’s door, wanting to greet him before he takes his shower. What he does not expect when he goes in, is Bucky with a slightly panicked expression, in a hurry to get either in or out of the suit he is half-wearing. It is the only one they own, and they share it like everything else.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks, the hand with the muffin hovering in the air as he stares at his best friend.

“What are you doing home?” Bucky asks back, briefly closing his eyes in the manner of the guilty being caught doing something they are not supposed to do. “You still have class. And then work. You’re not supposed to be here.”

Something is definitely going on. First Tony stops by when Steve is not here and now Bucky is acting suspiciously.

“Where are you going?” Steve’s eyes fall on the tie lying on the ground, the knot already made but hastily opened again. Bucky is _un_ dressing then. “Wait, has this something to do with the summer ball nobody’s telling me anything about?”

It is not just any ball, but the _Stark’s_ summer ball, which might just be the biggest event of the year in this area, only outshined by the Stark’s Christmas Gala. Tony had once offered him to have his mum display some of Steve’s paintings there, but Steve refused whole-heartedly. Everybody told him it would be the smart move to make, but to him, it would feel like cheating.

As it is, he has no interest at all in going to a terribly snobby event like this. It would just remind him how far out of his league Tony is. It is already painfully obvious enough.

“Well –” Bucky says slowly, telling Steve all he needs to know.

What he does not understand is why Bucky would go to that ball. More so, why he would even get an invitation. He and Tony are not exactly good friends, although they keep trying for Steve’s sake.

An ugly suspicion creeps up on Steve. “Did Tony ask you to be his date?”

Rationally, it makes no sense. He does not even know where the thought comes from. Bucky’s sudden, guilty expression is all the answer he needs, though.

“Steve,” Bucky begins in a soothing tone that goes right over Steve’s head, “don’t get angry. That’s not good with your asthma.”

Steve is sure it is not because of his asthma that his breathing becomes laboured right now. A weight sits on his chest, half-panic and half-fear of losing something that has never been his, to begin with.

It does not make sense, though. Tony is good at acting but his blundering shyness around Bucky has nothing to do with a secret romance they might be hiding. They keep getting thrown together because they are both Steve’s friends. It is awkward, a disaster waiting to happen.

No, Tony would not ask Bucky to come to his parents’ ball just like that. There has to be a reason.

A sudden calm comes over Steve. “I need you to get out of these clothes,” he says, stepping into the room. As he holds out his hand, he notices the smashed remains of the muffin, a victim of his blind panic. Mindlessly, he sets it down on Bucky’s desk, wiping the remaining rumbles on his paint-streaked pants.

“What?” Bucky asks, not moving quickly enough. Not moving at all, actually, too busy with staring at Steve. “I’m sure getting naked with me would cure you of a lot of –”

Steve is not in the mood for joking, so he just talks over Bucky. “We only have this one suit, and I’m going to need it if I’m going to that party.”

He knows a girl majoring in costume design, maybe she can help him make the suit fit a little better.

He does not know what he is doing, but he is sure that Tony does not want to take Bucky to that ball. That, at least, has to be true. Steve might not like social gatherings, might be completely helpless in the face of so much excessive wealth, but he can bear that for Tony.

A small voice in the back of Steve’s mind warns him that he should not blow his infatuation with Tony out of proportion. Just because he likes Tony a little bit too much does not mean that Tony does the same. Perhaps it was not a mistake that Tony asked Bucky. Perhaps it was not a coincidence that no one talked to Steve about that ball. Perhaps – he will simply have to take a leap of faith.

For two years now, he and Tony have been walking circles around each other. Surely, it is better to get some concrete answers than to drown in what-ifs.

“You’re not invited,” Bucky says, bringing Steve back to reality.

In his head, he has already been stepping on the lawn of the Stark Mansion with Tony at his side. Here, though, Bucky has not yet taken any more of the suit off.

“I love you, Buck,” Steve says impatiently, “but I’m not going to let you be Tony’s fake date.”

Something in Bucky’s eyes brightens and his expression relaxes. That is enough to make relief shoot through Steve. He was not wrong.

“Who said anything about fake?” Bucky asks gruffly, but there is an unmistakeably smile on his face and he is already busy unbuttoning the shirt.

“I did.” Sudden weightlessness has Steve’s stomach flipping. Nothing has changed yet, Tony does not know, but they might just be on their way there. “Start undressing.”

Shaking his head, Bucky pulls off the shirt, careful not to rip it with his prosthesis. “You two deserve each other, you know that?”

“I sure hope so,” Steve sighs, “otherwise I’m going to suffer an unpleasant evening with Tony’s parents for nothing”

No time spent with Tony is _for nothing_ , of course, but maybe, hopefully, they can turn it into more. Two years of pining has to be enough. Two years of – a wonderful friendship.

Face falling, Steve stares at the pieces of the suit on the ground in front of him. He cannot destroy their friendship for a hunch, a _crush._ It is better than to have just some pieces of Tony than nothing at all.

“Oh no,” Bucky says, appearing suddenly in Steve’s face. “You’re not going to talk yourself out of this right now.” Without warning, he sticks his hands into Steve’s pocket and gets out his phone. “We’re resolving this immediately.”

“What are you doing?” Steve asks, reaching for his phone but he does not have a chance against Bucky’s prosthesis holding him off.

“Hey, Stark,” Bucky says into the phone, and Steve is close enough to hear Tony’s confused greeting on the other end. That takes all the fight out of him. “I’ve got good news for you. I’m not coming to the ball with you.”

Angry yelling is audible, but Bucky cuts it off with a grin. “I’ve got someone better for you.”

With that, he holds out the phone for Steve. “You can thank me later.” Then he walks out of the room, not caring that he is only wearing boxers and might have just ruined Steve’s life.

“Tony?” Steve asks with some trepidation. “I thought – I heard you were looking for a date.”

The silence on the other end makes Steve suspect the worst. Then, Tony exhales loudly. “You don’t have to offer this out of pity.”

_Pity?_ The very thought has Steve becoming upset. Not for the first time does he make a mental note to find whoever messed up Tony’s sense of self-worth and have a long talk with them.

“I want to go with you,” Steve says as firmly as he dares. No more lies. No more hiding. “I want to be your date. Your _real_ date.”

“I –” Tony sounds at a loss but not disappointed, not confused. “Let me buy you dinner first?”

A grin spreads on Steve’s face. If nothing else, that is encouraging. It is not a _no_. “Tomorrow at six?”

“Yes,” Tony exclaims, leaving no doubt that he agrees with Steve’s plan, enthusiastically so. “Tell Barnes he’s won. I’ll build him that lightsaber for his arm.”

They laugh together. Tendrils of nerves are still spreading in Steve’s chest but there is no going back now. He would not want to anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
